Inside Deaf Culture

Writing from within the deaf community, Padden & Humphries illuminate moments in American Deaf history, most triumphantly the development of American Sign Language, now broadly embraced by the hearing world as well.

Paperback, 208 pages

Published
October 1st 2006
by Harvard University Press
(first published 2005)

Community Reviews

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It gives a clear history into Deaf culture, from it's early years as a growing culture in the United States to current issues and debates over what it means to belong to Deaf culture.

The part that interested me the most dealt with education for Deaf people, and how that has evolved. The constant battle between oral method and sign language has been fiercely argued for ages. I learned some things from this book that I had not known before, such as AlexanderOverall, I enjoyed this book very much. It gives a clear history into Deaf culture, from it's early years as a growing culture in the United States to current issues and debates over what it means to belong to Deaf culture.

The part that interested me the most dealt with education for Deaf people, and how that has evolved. The constant battle between oral method and sign language has been fiercely argued for ages. I learned some things from this book that I had not known before, such as Alexander Grahm Bell's involvement in education, although he was a proponent of oral education and in fact held the opinion that sign language was a detriment to those who used it.

I enjoyed this book, because I do believe that sign language is an extremely important part of Deaf culture. The authors even highlighted the rise of deaf theatre in the early 1900s up to modern advances in technology.

The one complaint I had was the authors (both who are Deaf/HoH) sometimes took an exclusive tone, such as there are certain experiences that deaf and hearing people could never hope to share. While this is true to some extent, I thought that parts of the book would only serve to widen the perceived gap between the two cultures rather than bring mutual understanding. ...more

The book describes a long history of segregating certain types of students at deaf schools based on gender, race or communication status. Such segregations in the past were based on prejudice. These prejudices affected how students were treated, and what they were taught. I am trying to understand the reasoning behind the current segregation of deaf students with cochlear implants from the rest of the student body at some deaf schools.

The authors explain that cochlear implants can fail which miThe book describes a long history of segregating certain types of students at deaf schools based on gender, race or communication status. Such segregations in the past were based on prejudice. These prejudices affected how students were treated, and what they were taught. I am trying to understand the reasoning behind the current segregation of deaf students with cochlear implants from the rest of the student body at some deaf schools.

The authors explain that cochlear implants can fail which might mean that the deaf child’s language acquisition could be delayed. This is a serious developmental problem. Segregating the students with cochlear implants is putting all their eggs in one basket and risking their lifelong ability to communicate. It seems to me that deaf students with cochlear implants should be presented with alternatives just in case their current option doesn’t work for them. I have stated in previous reviews that deaf individuals have the right to choose their mode of communication. Segregation is an obstacle to choice.

I appreciated that the authors of Inside Deaf Culture, Carol Padden and Tom Humphries, don’t believe that there is a single deaf culture. There are multiple deaf cultures and they each have a perspective that contribute to the diversity of deaf communities.

Padden & Humphries, husband & wife, both wrote a wonderful book that is much needed in terms of how Deaf Culture was or what it looked like in the days of the past. To me, "Inside Deaf Culture" is a follow-up from their previous book, "Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture". The difference is the latter is introductory by explaining different aspects of what Deaf culture is. The former contains selected pieces of Deaf history or rather, incidents andAs posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:

Padden & Humphries, husband & wife, both wrote a wonderful book that is much needed in terms of how Deaf Culture was or what it looked like in the days of the past. To me, "Inside Deaf Culture" is a follow-up from their previous book, "Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture". The difference is the latter is introductory by explaining different aspects of what Deaf culture is. The former contains selected pieces of Deaf history or rather, incidents and circumstances where the authors explain or pinpoint where some aspects of the Deaf culture originated.

For me, the most interesting parts of this book were the incidents occurring inside the Deaf residential schools. For most of us who are familiar with Deaf history, we know that the American School for the Deaf (Hartford, Connecticut) was the first permanent Deaf school and was established by Thomas H. Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc and Dr. Mason Cogswell. We also know that the Kentucky School for the Deaf was the first state-supported Deaf school. However, for many of us, we don't know what happened in the schools, whether they be good or bad.

Padden & Humphries bring light to some of the Deaf schools' darkest secrets. In addition, they also shed light to segregation between the Black and White Deaf residential schools. They don't stop there. They continue with voice, oralism, employment, theatre, American Sign Language (ASL) and of course, culture.

*Inside Deaf Culture* is an excellent book that is highly recommended for those in the Deaf-related fields. This book is also easy reading for those who are not knowledgeable of the Deaf community....more

I read this book for class and was somewhat disappointed. The book, which should have been fascinating, was very densely written. It seemed redundant and often odd grammatical choices were made. I read well, but there were many times where I had to read a sentence two or even three times because the structure was so bizarre I wasn't sure what the authors were saying. Still, there was some good information if you want to know more about the history of Deaf Culture.

Read this for my ASL 1 class. This was very informative and gave good insight to what the Deaf Culture was all about from a Deaf and HoH (Hard of Hearing) perspective that not everyone may be exposed to when reading about Deaf Culture.

I can understand where people find this one-sided, but at the same time if they were taught Spanish or other languages you'd probably want to know the language, perspective, and culture by one who is a native and part of that culture rather than one who has just kRead this for my ASL 1 class. This was very informative and gave good insight to what the Deaf Culture was all about from a Deaf and HoH (Hard of Hearing) perspective that not everyone may be exposed to when reading about Deaf Culture.

I can understand where people find this one-sided, but at the same time if they were taught Spanish or other languages you'd probably want to know the language, perspective, and culture by one who is a native and part of that culture rather than one who has just knowledge of it but are of your own culture and could put their spin on it.

This by far was a very good eye opener, especially about Bell since before I read this book I didn't know anything about him being a proponent for oral at all until I read this book and found that rather off putting about Bell. Definitely a must read for those who are very interested in ASL and Deaf Culture and History!...more

The authors trace the significant moments in the history of the American Deaf community, illuminating the efforts of Deaf Americans of all backgrounds to rise above the oppression and coercion they have faced at every turn.

This book provided a survey of the history of the Deaf in America which I found fascinating. It didn't get so much into the Deaf community of today, however and that's what I was expecting from the title (that's why it got 3 stars and not 4 or 5). That may be a turn-off for some people. I continued to read it and enjoy it because I also wanted to know about the history of the Deaf in this country. I'm glad I have some solid background information now from two deaf authors that I feel like I canThis book provided a survey of the history of the Deaf in America which I found fascinating. It didn't get so much into the Deaf community of today, however and that's what I was expecting from the title (that's why it got 3 stars and not 4 or 5). That may be a turn-off for some people. I continued to read it and enjoy it because I also wanted to know about the history of the Deaf in this country. I'm glad I have some solid background information now from two deaf authors that I feel like I can rely on. This will be the first of many books I plan to read on the subject. ...more

Interesting background of the history of deaf people in the US. There is some good material in here, but what hurts the book is that it gets repetitive. There were a few times I found myself thinking, "Didn't I already read this part?" As an introduction to dead culture, it's very useful. It made me sad to read about how difficult it has been for Deaf people to get a good education.

Provides an engaging, accessible overview of Deaf history. I came out of this book with a much richer understanding of the basics (the staunch defense of ASL; what happened at Gallaudet) as well as with information that was entirely new to me (the history of the African-American Deaf community; the origins of Deaf theater). Highly recommended.

Informative, but rather one sided. Would like a little more balanced perspective. But one thing this book and this class taught me is that I will NEVER send my kid (if I had a deaf child) to a residential deaf school EVER and I would never recommend it to friends.

A great introduction to the history of deaf people and the emergence of Deaf culture in this country. An eye-opening look into the discrimination, prejudice, and domination that Deaf people endured for many decades.

I read this book primarily as research for a story I'm writing, so I was hoping for it to be more sociological than it was. However, it was interesting to read about the history of Deaf culture in America.